If you haven't experienced it yet, surely you've witnessed it at some point. Perhaps at the much anticipated reunion with grandparents or the introduction of a little one to a best friend or work colleague that goes, well, not according to plans. Rather than showing off that darling smile and those beautiful eyes, the baby screams uncontrollably or buries her face in mom's chest.

While certainly not the ideal response, parents can take comfort in knowing that stranger anxiety is a normal part of a young child's cognitive, social and emotional development.

Stranger anxiety is a fear of unfamiliar people. It is also an indication of a baby's special awareness of who his parents are and the security they represent. Infants can begin to experience stranger anxiety as young as six months, but it usually peaks around the first birthday and diminishes by the age of three. While some children are more likely to experience stranger anxiety than others, most children will experience it at some point.

Yvonne Gustafson, PhD and Parenting Consultant at the Elizabeth Blackwell Center, offers the following strategies for coping with stranger anxiety:

• Watch your baby's cues. Some children just need more time and reassurance that this new person is "ok."
• Invite visitors to come to your home, where the baby feels safe.
• Hold your baby for as long as he needs to feel comfortable.
• Reassure the adult that it's not a failure on her part. Speak through the child to explain that she needs more time to be comfortable.
• Avoid using labels like shy to describe your child.

"This is not something you need to fix," says Gustafson.  "Just be supportive of your children as they go through the process of learning about new people and new environments."